time to MoVe on...

Well, I know rumors have started, so I might as well clairfy now just exactly what the Brown family is doing. :) We have (after months of agonizing deliberation) decided to sell our house. We LOVE our house. I have never been very attached to temporal things, if you know me I am always looking for a reason to get rid of things, I HATE to hold on to anything. Our house is different. We have spent the last 4 years here making our house a home. We brought our baby boy home to this house. I spent hours (and hours and hours and hours) debating on paint colors, basement design plans, closet organizers, etc., until we finally have EVERYTHING exactly the way we want it. Unfortunately, that was about the time that we started thinking it was time to build. Again. This time Matt will build our house himself. Well, not ALL himself, of course, but he will general contract it and build it exactly the way we want it. It is more of a business decision, he would like to general contract more projects (his focus had previously been framing), but to date he has only built one house from the ground up himself, and generaled several remodels, basements, and home additions. We felt he needed to live in a house that he built (since we meet with clients at our home office) in order to sell himself as a serious contractor. So, we debated for months on whether or not we could actually leave our home. We love our neighborhood, we love the ward, we love everything about where we live, except the fact that we didn't build it (and the fact that with all of the work tools we store we NEED a 3rd car garage, trying to get to my car through the piles of tools is a serious health hazard! :). But don't worry, we are only moving as far as Aspen Hills (about a block away, we haven't decided on a lot yet, but it will be close by :). We will be in the ward for a while still, as we barely listed our house, and will wait until it sells and closes to move out. We intend to rent within our ward while we build the new house, which will take some time as well, so we really aren't going anywhere too soon (no need to panic ;). However, if you know anyone looking for a great home in an amazing neighborhood let me know! Fabulous playroom is included! :) Here is a photo tour of our home: (In Saratogs Springs, Utah 2700 SF, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, theater, playroom, second kitchen, fully finished, all appliances included, as well as projector, screen, and surround sound in theater :)
Our House (yes, this was in the summer, I was too lazy to move my car and take a new picture :)
BackyardEntrywayUpstairs family roomUpstairs kitchenkids' bathroomKids' bedroom (there is also a nursery across the hallway, but it wasn't photo ready :)Master bedroom (the photo is decieving, but it is really big, also large walk-in closet and master bath, but those weren't really worth photographing :)Basement bedroom/office (there is another bedroom in the basement as well, but also not really photo ready :)Basement kitchentheater/basement family roomplayroom playhouseplayroom stageplayroom tree And that's the 'grand tour' :)

All iN a DaY's WoRk

To describe Mason as a 'busy child' is an understatement. A HUGE understatement. There isn't a word in the English language for the things this child does. This was our day today (only from 3 o'clock on, before that we were safely at church where he was under somebody else's supervision :). Mom was in the office working on the finishing touches on Grandma's photo calendar for Christmas while the kids were playing ever-so-nicely and quietly upstairs. Bad sign. Mason had found the water colors from preschool and filled both trays with water (which if you have ever done that mixes all of the colors together and forms thick black water), then poured them down the hallway. On the carpet. I put him in the bath to get the paint off of himself while I scrubbed the carpet - did I mention that we JUST got the carpets cleaned? While in the bath he managed to get more water outside the tub than inside. While I cleaned the bathroom floor he blew out a scented candle (that was up supposedly out of his reach, but he had managed to pull a bar stool over to the counter to reach it) and poured the wax all over the animals from the children's nativity scene in the living room. Somehow he managed this without burning himself. Lucky for him. At least he left Baby Jesus alone. He then ripped a wad of paper towels that I had used to clean up an earlier mess into tiny shreds and spread them across the floor. While I loaded the towels from the paint and bathroom cleanup into the washer and switched the laundry loads, he filled up a pitcher with water at both the kitchen sink AND the refrigerator, both times dumping it all over the floor. While I cleaned that up he found my cell phone, stripped the cover off, and put them in separate 'hiding places.' I received a text, which gave away my phone's hiding place, so I asked him where my phone cover was. He told me it was in the garbage. At least he tells the truth. Unfortunately I had just dumped old food from the fridge in the garbage. On top of the phone cover. Thanks Mason. Thank goodness for Clorox wipes. Without any further catastrophes I managed to make a quick dinner, we ate dinner as a family, read stories, and got ready for bed. At the end of it all he gave me the biggest sweet hug and kiss and told me how much he loved me. And you know what? I believe him. He may LOVE to get into trouble, but I love that little boy more than he knows, and as much as I threaten it lately, I really wouldn't sell him to the zoo. Really. Not even on a day like today. Not even for a million dollars. I will take paint-stained carpets (yes, they are supposedly washable water-colors, but try telling that to the blue/black spots down my hallway), water spills, wax-covered nativities, and garbage smeared phone covers if it means one more hug and kiss from my sweet baby. Now I just need to remember that WHILE I am cleaning up his messes, not just at the end of the day when I watch his sweet little sleeping face!

Last-minute Bryce Canyon Adventure

We decided to go on a last-minute weekend trip to Bryce Canyon this weekend. I will openly admit it was NOT my idea and I really didn't want to go, but in the end I am glad I did, we had so much fun! We stayed at the Stone Canyon Inn (if you are considering going to Bryce Canyon I HIGHLY recommend it, it was AWESOME!). I forgot to take pictures of our little private cottage, but this was the view we woke up to every morning - amazing! A friend of Matt's owns this little resort with his wife, they run a cute little bed-and-breakfast inn, as well as several private 'cottages' (2-bedroom little cabins with all of the amenities, including a private deck with hot tub). We hiked though Kodachrome Basin

The kids LOVED climbing around on the slickrock

McKinley insisted on getting a picture with one of the cows that was in the road on our drive through the park :)

Is that an amazing view, or what? This was our hike through Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon

Daddy and the kids looking through a little tunnel down into the canyon

The Brown family :)

Best buds

This tree was really cool, it was the straightest tree I have ever seen!

We ate lunch on a log under some trees down in the canyon, the kids got a huge kick out of the chipmunk that was hanging around - don't tell anyone we fed him! :)

Two Bridges - and two cute kiddos ;)

This was about the point where McKinley's legs got tired. They were such troopers, they hiked about 2 miles that day, and this was about the last 1/4 mile uphill when Kinley started to ask to be carried. I told her I couldn't, I had to carry the baby in my tummy. This was how the conversation continued:

McKinley: Mom, our baby sure is lucky that it gets carried EVERYWHERE in your tummy, it never has to walk.

Mason: Yeah, but it's locked in it's room and it can't get out!

Haha, I love these kids, they crack me up!

This was at the end of Sunrise Point

Mommy and Mason at the Natural Bridge

This was one of our last stops at the highest point in the park - 9100 feet, it was COLD!

And our kids favorite part of the WHOLE trip - the hot tub on the private deck. They went in it about twice a day, even though it was about 30 degrees outside! The hot tub was 105, though, so they were in heaven!

Hope you enjoyed our photographic tour through Bryce Canyon :). Side note: we own a great professional digital camera, we went on a trip to one of the most beautiful national parks in Utah, and what did we bring? Our cheesy little point-and-shoot camera. Yeah, we are lame. So, just keep in mind, these pictures don't even come close to doing it justice, it was amazingly beautiful, and although it was pretty cold, the sky was so blue and the sun was shining all weekend, it was great! I am glad we had the chance to get away by ourselves for the weekend and enjoy our little family, I love them so much!

Don't blink, you might miss it...

My cute sister-in-law is getting married in less than 2 weeks, and we are SO excited for her (are they cute or what)!
On our drive home from Bryce Canyon last night I started to think about when Matt and I were dating and engaged. A hundred years ago, I know :), but it feels like yesterday. I remember being so anxious to get engaged,
then looking forward to our wedding,move to Vegas, first house (the front door was on the side, weird, but we loved that house!),then came the first baby,moved to Utah, second house, second baby,vacations, running our construction company, busy-ness, life, third baby on the way (yes, that is my big butt 7 months prego, go ahead, laugh :)...

it's a blur. It all just started, yet it's all gone so fast. My best and only advice to Aimee is to enjoy it. Don't miss a thing. As we drove I found myself watching my cute kids alseep in the backseat of the car and just stared at them, trying to freeze that moment in my mind forever so I wouldn't forget it. There are always so many things to look forward to, but I don't want to be so busy looking forward to tomorrow that I forget to live for today. So Aimee, don't look ahead, just live and love every minute now, and don't blink, you might miss it.